


Dance Lessons: Cadence

by Shigan



Series: Small Conversations [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Drama, F/F, Poor Weiss, Romance?, dance on, life - Freeform, we live we learn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 10:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18134456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shigan/pseuds/Shigan
Summary: Reunited at Mistral, Weiss and Ruby come together again after months of separation to find a new balance, one dance step at a time. Yang witnesses the old saying of how absence is to love what wind is to fire, extinguishing the small while enkindling the great.Season 5. Second part of 'Dance Lessons', the Whiterose half.





	Dance Lessons: Cadence

**Author's Note:**

> Written while obsessively listening to 'Rewrite the Stars' from The Greatest Showman, so if you're wondering what music they're dancing to, that's probably it ^^;.

**V. Mistral / season 5 / Yang’s pov**  
...  
Beta: Cyn, all rise.  
...

The sun was setting over the mountains of Mistral when Yang finally finished her training routine, burning the cliff ledge where the guest house was located in dark shades of orange. She pushed her body through the last set of rotational kicks, going as high as she could, then brought herself back to balance by falling back into stance. She felt tired but in a good way. Riding a bike for days to find Ruby had made her body stiff and her joints ache, and the near-disastrous run in with her mother sure hadn’t helped. Finding Weiss had honestly been the only good thing that came out of that mess of a family meeting. 

The three of them had barely been reunited for two days and while it was obvious they were all happy to be back together, the glaring absence of Blake hurt, and not just for her. They made the best out of it. Ruby kept a cheerful face, discussing plans and strategizing with Qrow and the weird child-Ozpin while naturally falling back into the role as their leader. Weiss was still recovering from her ordeal as a prisoner and trying to hide how happy she was to be back with Ruby, which was a complete waste of energy since Yang’s sister made no attempt to hide her joy at all. The two of them had spent the day retelling their adventures from the previous months with the three remaining members of team JNPR. From her understanding, Jaune’s team had been champs and pulled through for Ruby when their own fell apart to indecision and fear. She could not thank the three of them enough.

Yang stretched her body, working through the major muscles one by one, like her father had taught her since she was young enough to remember. Feeling a slight cramp in her thigh, she winced, moved from the open area to the side beneath some trees and sat down to massage the limb, enjoying the last of the sunlight. 

The glassdoors to the house clicked open and Ruby with Weiss following emerged, both were dressed for practice, Ruby in black slacks and a top with bare arms while Weiss seemed to prefer a skirt for everything. The dark-haired girl was talking about something animated while gesticulating, Weiss’s face looked impassive but seemed to follow her story with interest. They did not see her and Yang could barely make out their voices.

Her sister pumped her fist into the air while Weiss just nodded. Both then fell into a combat stance, the basic self-defence one everybody was taught at Beacon. Yang raised an eyebrow and realized she was witnessing the other pair’s evening routine. She and Blake used to do this too, work through their technique and synchronization as partners on their own to ensure perfection during live combat. The memory stung, making the scene before her all the more bittersweet to watch. 

The mock-fight begun simply enough, with neither huntress being a close combatant, they ran through some warm-up drills, simple blocks and parries with predictable lunges with the goal to be able to read the other correctly rather than dominate. Ruby was distinctly the more forceful one with wide-sweeping punches and jabs while Weiss prefered a familiar style of dodge or deflect followed by quick counterattacks, very much alike her style of fencing. The fight quickly picked up speed however as both fell into what was obviously a familiar tempo. However as Yang continued to watch something was clearly off. 

Ruby was moving too fast and Weiss was reacting too slow. Her sister’s punches were drawing closer and closer to landing rather than just marking a contact point. Weiss was trying to speed herself up but her movement was growing more frantic and uncontrolled by the moment, the strain was starting to show on her face. The mistake came when Ruby threw herself into a serie of five-step punches in full momentum, Weiss missed her cue with a hair and overcompensated while trying to sidestep. Her face constricted in pain when Ruby’s fist connected with her torso and she fell back into the dirt.

Yang could see the surprise on Ruby’s face, then the guilt. She ran over to Weiss apologizing profusely. Weiss on the other hand was having none of the pity, simply stood up with a pained grimace and wanted to try again. After several failures however, it became rather obvious that the months apart had not been kind to the battle synchronization they had worked so hard to attain. The fall of Beacon had done more than just physically split their team. Ruby had grown independent by travelling beside others while Weiss had been locked away and alone. The pair’s mounting frustration clearly showed on their faces.

They called it quits after sundown when the shadows grew too long and the air became chilly. Ruby stayed behind while Weiss went indoors for the showers. Yang hadn’t seen her so crestfallen since Mr. Bearbear got left behind at Beacon. 

“Hey sis,” She greeted, standing up from her resting place.

“Oh hey, Yang,” Ruby replied, looking like a kicked puppy.

“Sooo, I’m guessing that didn’t go as smoothly as you thought it would?”

“Yeah.” Ruby was almost sniffing, her face an image of anxious concern. “Well, I thought after all this time, after all that work, we would just- I dunno, go back and start right where we left off? Same flashy moves and all?”

“What says you can’t?”

“Didn’t you see?” Ruby shook her head worriedly. “And we were really trying too. We could do all the basic katas before, _perfectly_. And now it’s like we can’t feel each other any longer. How are we going to fight Grimm like this?”

Yang put her hands on Ruby’s sunken shoulders. It struck her how young she really was and how many burdens they had placed upon her. The image blurred for a moment and she saw the little girl with scraped knees who would bring frogs to the dinner table. When was the last time her sister had just taken some time for herself, and do something purely out of enjoyment?

“Are you sure you’re focusing on the right thing though? Combat synchronization is fine and all, but is that really what you want to be doing?”

“What do you mean? Look at all that’s happening around us,” Ruby made a hand gesture towards the house and Haven academy. “I’m so happy that Weiss’s is here but we need to get ready! Like, not right now but _very_ soon.”

“... is that how you felt yesterday, when you saw her walk through the door?” 

“Well, no.” 

“Do tell.”

“I saw you first, actually. You’re kinda big, because big sis, you know.” Ruby smiled sheepishly.

Yang swatted her playfully. “And then you saw Weiss.”

Ruby nodded slowly, her smile widening. She looked so sweet and excited it hurt Yang’s heart.

“Was the first thing on your mind _‘YES, let’s practice all the fourty two self-defence katas’?_ ” Yang pushed. She loved her sister but Ruby could be a bit on the dense side sometimes.

“Of course not.” Ruby frowned, looking thoughtful while trying to discern what Yang was trying to make her see. “All I wanted was to be with her.”

“Then maybe that’s what you should be doing instead. Combat synch is cool and all, Ruby, but there are other ways to make two people feel closer. Do something else and maybe try to have fun together? I know Weiss could use it.”

Ruby turned to look towards the house, to the window which was Weiss’s and her bedroom. Yang had always prided herself for being able to read her sister well, and right now she could see the shapes of an idea forming from the pensive expression on her face. Qrow choose this moment to interrupt by tossing a bottle across the yard in frustration, whereas Nora decided to attempt to boomerang it with her hammer. The rest of JNPR watched on in quiet resignation.

The next day came and went and Yang found herself running late her for her own evening practice. It was hard to keep up a good habit when you had to do it all on your own. Blake had always been the punctual one. She was considering to go for a run instead when she stepped out on the veranda for some air. Instead, the sight in front of her stopped her dead in her track. 

The sun had set. A surprisingly sharp wind pinched her cheeks, rousing a cloud of fire flies from the few thicket of grass, the sky above had turned into a dome of pink and purple. A scroll lay in the grass, softly playing an old tune from Vacuo with string instruments.

At the center of the yard, Ruby and Weiss danced. 

They were moving closely, circling each other while crossing each other’s space. Ruby’s hand around Weiss’s waist while Weiss’s snaked around Ruby’s neck and rested against the flat of her shoulder blade. Yang recognized the dance immediately as the one they learned at the academy, the one she had learned with Blake. Ruby moved her feet two steps in a smooth motion, her eyes never really leaving Weiss’s face. Weiss followed, her expression soft, focused and completely encompassed by her partner’s, letting her steps chase Ruby’s easily across the ground. 

They had never been able to pull the dance off completely at the academy as Weiss’s ballroom experience, and thus expectations, was staggering compared to what Ruby at that point could provide. Weeks of sore legs, aching feet and kicked-puppy-faced Ruby had done little to appease her perfectionist partner in this regard. Yang recalled the both of them putting in lot of sweat and hard work into the exercise with mediocre results at best. Weiss had _not_ been happy.

Little of their former frustration showed now beneath the waterfalls of Mistral, like two halves broken apart, looking for a new balance. 

The dance entered its second phase and sped up. Shy, circular motions changed to rapt staccato. Ruby turned Weiss around and let her go, letting her fall away as if she was too terrible, yet to wonderful, to be near yet held on to her left hand with her own right and reeled the other back in, catching Weiss against her chest and between her arms protectively. Weiss leaned into her, vulnerable and with absolute trust, as naturally as the rain fell to the earth.

Yang realized that she was holding her breath at the sight of them. It was a breathtaking scene, and the both of them showed no sign of slowing. Ruby led, and Weiss followed. Her sister had done it, she realized. To find a way to practice, letting Weiss feel productive while channeling their shared wish to be close- be _together_ again, through a different mean than combat. 

The music was drawing to an end, building to a crescendo as the pair sidestepped, Weiss to the left and Ruby to the right. The dark-haired girl pulled them together, hips aligned and foreheads briefly touching, then she swooped Weiss around and down, dipping her into an arc to bring an end to the dance. The music ebbed. Their form was pristine, with Ruby’s arms gently carrying the length of Weiss’s back while her partner hooked a leg around her thigh, riding it high and bringing them to conjunction. 

They looked _perfect_. Yang stared, and felt her cheeks heat up because she felt like she was witnessing an intensively private moment.

The final tunes of the song faded. Ruby pulled them up again. Both remained together, unsure of what to do next but not quite willing to break apart. The dark-haired girl still had her arms wrapped around Weiss while Weiss had instinctively placed hers around Ruby’s neck. Yang could see them breathing hard and saw Ruby whisper something excitedly, she looked so unbelievably happy and kept talking and laughing and shaking a very, _very_ red Weiss.

Weiss herself didn’t look so good. Happy and accomplished, yes, but she was blushing almost from top to toe in a distinct rose coloured flush that Yang guessed had little to do with embarrassment. She seemed to suddenly want to look at anywhere but Ruby and caught sight of Yang, their eyes met across the distance. There was a mix of confusion, followed by realization, fear and pure disbelief. 

She saw _panic_.

Oh. 

Ruby shouted a sound of celebrative joy, then picked Weiss up and spun her around and around. The older girl yelped in surprise and held onto her shoulders but made no attempt to stop her, caught up in her partner’s cheer.

Weiss finally _knew_ , while Ruby didn’t.

Yang made a face in sympathy for the Schnee heiress.

_Oh boy._

**Author's Note:**

> So I've gathered that this fandom likes to torture Weiss and I guess I'm joining them.
> 
> Alternative title was Dance Lessons: Gay Panic


End file.
